Sleeve-valve engine



' Jan. 5, 1932;

Original Filed April 1 1926 Patented Jan. 5, 1932 untrue STATES? JULES HALTENBERGER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR, BY LIESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO CONTINENTAL MOTORS PORATION OF VIRGINIA CORPORATION, ormn'rnorr; MICHIGAN, A COR- sLEEvnvALvE ENGINE Original application filed April is, 1926, seria my. 192 Serial No. 283,711.

My invention is concerned with sleevevalve engines and particularly with multicylinder sleevevalve engines of, the type in" which one or more sleeves surround each rg piston and extend thereaboveinto an' annu-.

lar space between the cylinder wall and the outer surfaceof a plug mounted in the headend of the cylinder. Amongtheobjects of my invention are to decrease gas leakage between this plug and the sleeve surrounding it, to prevent scoring of the co-operating surfaces of the sleeve and plug which would be caused either by the presence of foreign matter or by gathering of the metal on the co-operating surfaces of the sleeveand plug, to dothis without tlie' necessity for providing junk rings or, other: parts ordinarily used to form a seal for the upper end of the sleeve, and to locate ithe plug'ac'culately with its axis coincident with that of the associated sleeve 'valve and cylinder bore.

1 accomplish myobjectsby providing that surface of the cylinder plug which co oper-. ates with the inner surface of *the sleeve with a series of circumferential grooves orserra ti0ns.- 1

The accompanying drawings illustrate one cylinder of a multi-cylinder engine embodying my invention; Fig.1 is anlaxial sec tion through one cylinder ofmy engine; and Fig. 2 is a fragmental section, similar to Fig. 1 but on an enlarged scale. l I V The subject-matter of this application is disclosed in my co-pendingfapplication Serial No. 101,301, filed April 12,1926, of which application the p'resentone'is a' d vision. v:

Although my invention is, not limited to single-sleeve valve engines, the eng ne llustrated in the drawings is of that. type and has the usual cylinders ",10,pistons 11, and sleeve valves 12, each sleeve valve lying. within the associatedifcylinder 10 and surrounding the piston 11, Thesleeve' 12 may be driven by any suitable mechanism to con-' trol the flow of'gases to and from the c'ylin-' den I e The head end of the cylinder bore is closed by a plug 15 which may be secured in position by any desired means and-which has a 101,301; "Divides m this application filedlune 7, Renewed June 12, 1931.

portion 15 extending'for a distance into the cylinder. H The plug portion 15 is of smaller diameter than the cylinder bore to provide an annular space 16 into which the upper end of the sleeve valve 12 extends. 7

- In carrying out my invention I am not compelled to" rely upon the usual expedients, such as junk rings, which are employed to provide a seal and prevent gas leakage between the inner surface of the sleeveand outersu'rface ofthe plug 15. Instead, I contemplate that the sleeve will bear directly against the outer surface of the plug-portion" 1 5 as is clear from the drawings.

The outer surface of the plug portion 15 is provided with a series of serrations, desirably in the form of. circumferential grooves 18, which materially decrease the effective area of its working surface; Desirably, the ridges between the adjacent grooves 18. are V-shaped with a narrow land, so that in case of any inaccuracies in machining or assembling they readily wear away slightly to accommodate movements of the sleeve valve 12. In any event, I contemplate that the effective bearing area ofthe plug-portion 15 will be but a fraction of what it'would be if it were not grooved or serrated.

'lhe grooves 18, in addition to reducing the effective areaof the working surface of the'plug portion 1'5, also improve sealing, on account ofthe labyrinthpacking which they provide. In addition, the interruption of the bearingsurface prevents any gather ing of. the metal on the co-operating sur-' face of the sleeve valve. Any foreign matter which finds its way-betweenitheplug and sleevevrlve'. is deposited in'one' of "the grooves or serrations 18 and therefore does not tend to cause scoring. 7, p Asnoljunk ring is provided in the construction illustrated, it is desirable that the plug 15 be located as accurately as possible in order that-the plugfportion 15f may be closely concentric with the sleeve valve'12. To this end, provide on the upper end of the plug 15,

an outwardly projecting annular flange 20 having a lower surface accurately machinedperpendicular to the axis of the plug portlon 15'. At the upper end of the cylinder, I provide a mating surface which is accurately machined, as by a tool piloted from the cylinder bore, to be accurately perpendicular to the cylinder axis. Thus, for locating the plug 15, I do not rely upon the upper surface of the cylinder block, which is usually 'finished by a milling operation and which in practice, is always found to be somewhat out of perpendicularity with the axes of the cylinders. Such a surface, even if accurately plane, cannot, as a matter of fact, be perpendicular to the axes of all the cylinders in a block, as

carbon is removed from the engine.

The usual method of surmounting these difliculties is by the use of junk rings, but they are relatively expensive, are noisy when the engine is new, and become baked to the plug and hence ineffective when the engine is old. ,By my invention I eliminate the necessity of junk rings and their attendant expense, wear, and the leakage caused by this Wear;I insure the absence of binding action;

I provide a smaller friction surface andam thereby enabled to obtain easier starting in cold weather; I eliminate the possibility of scoring; andI do all this while still accompl ishing an effective seal for the upper end of the sleeve valve owing to the labyrinth packing provided when the engine is new and.

tothe carbon seal which is provided as the grooves or serrationsbecome filled up. Further, my invention makes all the plugs ofa V multi-cylinder engine interchangeable.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a sleeve valve engine having a cylinder,!aisleeve valve located within said cylinder, means for moving said sleeve valveswith an axial component of motion, and a piston within said sleeve valve; a removable plug closing the head end of said cylinder andextending into said sleeve valve toengage frictionallyf the inner surface thereof, thecircumferential surfaceof said plug which cooperateswiththe inner surface of said sleeve valve having a plurality of serrations. 2 In a sleeve valve engine having a cylinder, a sleeve valve located within said cylinder, means for moving'said sleeve valvewith; anlaxial component of-motion, and a piston; withinasaidsleeve valve; a removable plug closing the head-end of said cylinder and extending into said sleeve valve to engage frictionally the inner surface thereof, the circumferential surface of said plug which c0- operates, with the inner surface of said sleeve valve having a plurality of closely spaced circumferential grooves leaving between them narrow lands which form the effective bearingsurface of said plug.

3. In a sleeve valve engine having a cylinder, a sleeve valve located within said cylinder, means for moving said sleeve valve with an axial component of motion, and afpiston withinsaid' sleevevalve; a removable plug closing the head-end of said cylinder and extending into said sleeve valve to engage frictionally the inner surface thereof, the circumferential surfaceof said plu which cooperates with the inner surface 0 said sleeve valve having a plurality of circumferential grooves. V

4, In a sleeve valve engine having a cylinder, a sleeve valve located Within said cylinder, means for moving said sleeve valve with an axial component motion, and a piston with in said, sleeve valve; a removable plug closing the head-end of said cylinder and extending into said sleeve valve to engage frictionally the inner, surface thereof, the circumferential surface of said plug which co-operates with the inner surface of'saicl sleeve valve having a, plurality of indentations reducing materially the effective bearing area of said plug.

5. In a. sleeve valve engine having a cylinder, a'sleeve valve located within said cylinder, means for moving said sleeve valve with a. axial component of. motion, and a piston within said-sleeve valve; a removable member closing the upper end of said sleeve valve and having a circumferential surface frictionally engaging the inner surface of said sleeve valve, said member being provided in such circumferential surface with a plurality of indentations reducing materially the, eifective bearing area of said member.

6. In. a, sleeve valve engine havinga cylinder, a sleeve valve located within said cylinder,.means for moving said sleeve valve with an. axial component of motion and a piston within, said sleeve valve; a removable member closing the upper end of said sleeve valve and having a circumferential surface frictionally engaging the inner surface of said sleeve valve, said member being providedin such circumferential surface with a plurality of. circumferential. grooves. Y

j 7 In a} sleeve valve engine having a cylinder block. with a. plurality of cylinder bores, a sleeve valve located within each of said cylinder bores, means. for moving said sleeve valve withan axial component of motion, and a piston within each sleeve valve; a re- .movable plug closing the head-endof each cylinder bore andextending into the associatedfsleevevalve to. engage frictionally the bore and adapted to support the flange of the associated plug to locatesa-idplug with its aXis accurately coincident with that of the cylinder bore, the circumferential surface of each of said plugs which co-operates with the associated sleeve valve having a plurality of indentations reducing materially the efi'ective bearing area of said surface.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 5th day of June, 1928.

JUiLES HALTENBERGER. 

